Div laments Jantjes' injury

2009-05-04 19:27

Johannesburg - Springbok coach Peter de Villiers is consulting with the medical teams of the Super 14 franchises in order to obtain a comprehensive assessment on the current spate of injuries to Springbok players.

Several players expected to be involved in the three-Test Lions Series are either injured or doubtful to start their respective matches this weekend. Fullback Conrad Jantjes is definitely ruled out with a broken leg.

“I regularly speak to the Super 14 squads’ medical people regarding injured players,” de Villiers said. “Injury assessments are done on Mondays and Tuesdays and will give us a clearer picture on the state of affairs.

“At this stage there is early speculation that certain players will not play at the weekend but there is still a chance that they will be cleared once the assessments are complete. In some cases it might be better for players to sit out even if they are declared fit, to allow them more time to recover.”

De Villiers said an increase in injuries at this stage of the Super 14 was not unexpected. “The Vodacom Super 14 is a tough competition and we expected that injuries might impact on our selection for the Lions Series”.

“For that reason we never cast anything in stone even though there are players incumbent in certain positions who would in all likelihood be included in a starting XV. The fact that some of these players are currently beset by injury is a concern but I do not want to draw any conclusions until I have consulted with the respective medical teams and have a full understanding of the extent of each injury and the recovery prognosis,” he added.

Commenting on the serious injury to Conrad Jantjes, De Villiers said: “It is always upsetting when a player that is in the driving seat is injured, as is the case with Conrad and others like Jean de Villiers.

“The loss of Conrad is a blow to us and especially for him as it rules him out for some time,” de Villiers said.

De Villiers added that the loss of Jantjes would not disrupt the selection process as he was confident there were enough players available who could fill the fullback berth.

“If we had picked our starting XV in March I would be concerned, but we agreed that we would take stock after the Super 14 and base our selection on the best available players in each position who we believe can take on the British & Irish Lions,” de Villiers said

Sport24

Comments

r nel - 2009-05-04 20:19

a useless player picked on race

connie - 2009-05-04 20:47

Sorry about Jantjies injury, but we have a dirth of fullbacks, but non safer and more courageous than STEFAN TERBLANCHE.

boerseun - 2009-05-04 21:05

NZ and OZ also have injuries. It's a man's game. Please.

Mdeva - 2009-05-04 21:34

I reckon Loius Ludeke is the most natural fullback at the moment.

Denise - 2009-05-04 21:36

Absolutely disgusting comment, obviously from someone with a chip on his shoulder. Irrespective or race - he could play rugby & an injury of that nature, for any sportsman, will be sole destroying. All the best Conrad -from a solid "Shark" supporter !!

Anonymous User - 2009-05-04 22:24

last comment was unnecessary.
if the team to face the lions is picked on form as div says then jantjies would not have made the 22 and nor will schalk burger. if burger plays then div is a liar.
here is your form 15
1 guthro steenkamp
2 bismark du plessis
3 jannie du plessis
4 bakkies
5 victor
6 heinrich brussouw
7 juan smith
8 kankowski
9 fourie du preez
10 ruan pienaar
11 habana
12 wynand olivier
13 jaques fourie
14 jp pietersen
15 stephan terblanche
reserves
beast, john smit, watson, johan muller, peter grant, louis ludik and ndungane
i have watched every game and this is just my opinion. and you not what they says about opinions. people might object to leaving someone like spies out but seriously he avoids tackling and only makes 40% of the ones he tries. sure he is a great runner with the ball but the lions series is not going to be about flamboyant running rugby. if we play burger, smith and spies together we will be murdered at the breakdown and not see the ball at all. you can't win a game without the ball. heinrich brussouw is the best tackeler in sa, he also steals so much opposition ball. if we get our loose forward combo right we will win.

Its sad to see a player braking his leg best of luck Conrad. But one thing is fore shure he wont be the fullback now(HAHA sorry it just popped in to head,) not even Frans Steyn!!! So if Div has got a half a brain he will pick the only fullback that is never out of position Stenfan Terblanche.

Arthur - 2009-05-05 07:10

Stephan is the number 1 full back anyway, sorry Conrad but that is a fact, wish you a speedy recovery

SHARKS PLAYER 23 - 2009-05-05 07:47

Stefan Terblanche please, That guy is pathetic. I would rather play Zane Kirchner is Springboks number 15, the kid covers his ground very well.
ALL THIS TERBLANCHE STUFF OF HIME BEING A THE BEST FULLBACK CURRENTLY IS SUPER 14 IS JUST A WHOLE LOAD OF TRASH. ZANE KIRCHNER AND LOUIS LUDEKE ARE THE BEST PERFORMING LAST LINE OF DEFENCE CURRENTLY.

John - 2009-05-05 07:54

I agree with Mdeva. What must Loius Ludeke do more to be picked? He is safer than Stefan under the high-ball and has an astounding running ability.

Mark - 2009-05-05 08:00

R Nel - you must be the biggest a***hole in the country. I bet he plays better rugby than you could ever dream of and he could probably side step you with his broken leg. Go drink another brandy and coke and crawl back into your hole.

Anonymous User - 2009-05-05 08:22

conrad lost his edge a while ago. im glad he's out!!!
Kirchner or Daniller

LovingSArugby - 2009-05-05 08:25

@anonymous user
Your team has definite strength. However, the fact that Pienaar has been out for some time surely rules him out of the current "form team"? Also not so certain about your front row. Smit at tight murdered his Highlanders counterpart. Yes, Jannie did a great job as a replacement, but I think that you cannot leave out the one real leader we have, especially if he is doing a great job in the tight as he is.
The fact that Jantjes is injured is horrible for him. While I am not his biggest fan, I am the first person to acknowledge his remarkable improvement from when he first started playing provincial rugby. He is without a doubt a legitimate contender for the position, regardless of race. However, we do have depth at 15, and the injury should do little to weaken us at the back.

Anonymous User - 2009-05-05 08:29

Kankowski,is definitely the wing on form.What,he is an 8th man.Could have fooled me!!!!!

Anonymous User - 2009-05-05 08:36

Play Frans Steyn at 15! He has a massive boot on him, crucial against the Lions, and he is big and powerful, so will take some stopping when cutting into a line! He could become one of the best ever!

Stone Cold - 2009-05-05 08:37

R Nel.... You're a W*****!!!!! One thing is certain.... you definitely don't know what u talking about!!!
Terblanche is the man for the job purely based on experience and consistency the past 2 seasons. All the best to Jantjies, hope to see u back on the field soon!!

drol - 2009-05-05 08:39

at our national team selector...have you completely lost your mind, firstly the best frow in the country is the front row that started for the sharks beast, bismark and john smit. brussouw has had all of three decent games and juan smit has done nothing since he got sent home from tour.
dont get me wrong i think both brussouw and smit are good but not better than ....deysel, not better vermeulan, not better then baywatch and on curent form (as you put it) not beter than watson. i agree that at this moment burger isnt doing well and spies is also a little ify ...any way thats the opinion of this national selector

Boerseun - 2009-05-05 08:40

Who is Louis Ludeke ? The man on the Moon ?

SA Supporter - 2009-05-05 08:49

Being a strong Natal supporter - SA rugby is about the Best in SA. The Lions tour is another tour to proved we arethe best in the world. And i hope Div picks players in form, and not name. Conrad was good till injury and Ludeke has shown great promise too, Stefan has been solid but not consistent. We have tons of talent in SA. (I am living in OZ and we have by far better players and lots of them. Its just a question of finding these talented players and making them better. Here in Oz they find a guy a treat him like gold - until his ready). Besides that, The lions have a Physical pack, lets not forget, and our success will come in how well, our loose trio combine and how we can get our backline going - Broussouw, Smith, Kankowski is the best combo i believe, and a visionary No9 Pienaar and Butch (Physical presence in defence), will let our centres do
great work any day

Mark Willemse - 2009-05-05 08:59

R Nel, get a life man. It's idiots like you who perpetuate the whole race issue. Play the ball not the man. I am a Springbok supporter, a Bafana supporter etc. This is South Africa with a country of blacks, whites, coloureds etc. It seems that these comment pages are just becomming a portal to vent racial frustrations by certain elements. If a player is good enough he will play. You cannot just discount experience because of poor S14 form or because a team is performing poorly. You cannot drop Schalk Burger and play someone without experience against a formidable Lions team. Form can be found very quickly, experience not!!!

Anonymous User - 2009-05-05 10:31

R nel: you are as stupid as your comment. get a life

Graham - 2009-05-05 10:32

Hope that Conrad makes a full recovery - However the truth is that apart from a great side-step, he has nothing else to offer- giving the opposition the ball with regular misguided up and unders and being out of position at critical times - He is simply not up to international standard - Terblanche, Kirchner and Steyn will all do a much better job - Flashes of brilliance from Jantjies does not make him an international player

GlobetrotterSA - 2009-05-05 10:36

To anon who listed his fav team: I agree with your backrow, including Brussow if Burger can't play. I also agree on Spies, he has one of the worst tackle stats of the entire competition although we know he is good on attack. But against the Lions, you MUST be a good defender too. Although Brussow is good, he is actually not the best tackler as you suggest. That title, according to the game stats, goes to Luke Watson! He currently ranks 3rd in the WHOLE competition for tackles made. He basically never misses one as well. But because of his politics he'll probably not get picked now. I know he plays 8th man and we already have Kanko but Watson's stats is still very impressive nevertheless.

Paddy - 2009-05-05 10:36

Jantjes is the best player on current form. Would've surprised a lot of people in the Lions series. Think he would've taken over kicking duties as well.

Andre - 2009-05-05 10:54

You get (white) people who love rugby and do not care about the colour of people's skin, these people admire players Like Jason Robinson, Jonah Lumo, Brian Habana, 'Beast' Mtawarira, Conrad Jantjies to name but a few. Then you get people like r nel who knows zip about rugby. I do not say Jantjies was the very best fullback in the world but certainly a top contender for the Bok jersey together with Stefan Terblanche, he is safe under the high ball and can attack well from behind. R Nel just showed by his comment how little he knows about the sport or perhaps that he himself is racist.

robert - 2009-05-05 11:13

Rumours say that Div wants to play Jacqui Fourie on fullback, how the hell he can play a player of this stature out of position just to play Adrian Jacobs only he will know. Why is it that both our wings Habana and JP became so slow that on Saturday JP couldn`t even keep up with Kankowski, maybe they are to sure of themselves to be picked.

Alta - 2009-05-05 11:28

I am a Stormer supporter, but sorry, Jantjes was far from in form this year, he kicked all our possession away, Terblanche for now.

james - 2009-05-05 12:01

Truth hurts I guess - Jantjies cant tackle he is suspect under the high ball and he is a frikken midget. He was the Bok fullback to make up the racial quotas. There are far better full backs in SA and as much as I feel for Jantjies, he is a good provincial player not an international player. Kirchner and stefan are better and I think most of you know that - pick the guys based on rugby ability not race - you may just end up with a helluva side irrespective of colour - oh yes and the Beast - now theres a man with some bite.

brownsuit - 2009-05-05 13:28

frankly, in my opinion, Zane Kirschner is the best no 15 in the country at the moment....
The only reason Div loves Jantjies so much is because he is the kind of player div likes, small, quick, elusive..... but if that is what he wants he should rather pick Gio Aplon.... LOL

Craig - 2009-05-05 13:29

What a shame for Conrad!! He is a talent for sure and no one could ever wish for a rugby player to break his leg. This said, i still believe that Conrad, though good, was not the best. I would have said this opened the door for Stein however, his best position seems to be inside centre, so the logical choice for the # 15 position would be Stefan Terblanch, Zane Kirchner from the bulls is very good, big/strong/fast, however his inexperience against a experienced Lions side may shine through. Go Bokke and a speedy recovery to a talented player like Conrad.